In particular climates it is desired to heat, thaw and prevent the freezing of pipelines. The pipelines are used to transfer fluids, such as water or oil, across a distance, sometimes through areas of cold weather. Presently, heat exchangers are used to keep the fluid in the pipeline from freezing. However, heat exchangers require that the fluid in the pipeline be flowing in order to be effective. Once the fluid stops moving, the heat exchanger is unable to heat the fluid thereby making the system ineffective. Another method to heat fluid in a pipeline is to heat the exterior of the pipeline, which requires the installation of heated lines on the pipe. However, these transfer lines are generally inefficient as much of the heat is lost to the ambient air.
Yet another method is to insert a device into the line and use a vacuum to draw the fluid from the line. Once drained the fluid is heated and pumped back into the pipeline. This method is both very labor intensive and requires the special equipment such as vacuum trucks.
Therefore, a system for keeping high volumes of fluid from freezing is desired. Further, a system for keeping fluids from freezing with minimal intervention (disassembly of pipelines, draining and down time) is desired. Even further, a system to provide safe, continuous heat over long distance pipelines, and which is transportable to remote locations as a unit is desired.